The present invention relates to a power take-off, a vehicle provided with such a power take-off, and an intermediate piece for such a power take-off.
Trucks are sometimes equipped with add-ons of various kinds, e.g. cranes and compressors. To drive the add-ons, power is extracted from the truck's powertrain by one or more power take-offs, commonly referred to as PTOs, which may be connected to and fitted on broadly all of the powertrain components, e.g. on the engine, on the gearbox or between the engine and the gearbox. Powering an add-on in the form of a crane with hydraulic cylinders entails using pressurized hydraulic oil and fitting in the power take-off an offtake module in the form of a hydraulic pump. If the add-on is a compressor, an offtake module is preferably fitted in the form of a connecting flange in the power take-off, and the compressor's input shaft is connected to the flange.
A power take-off may be single or double and be direct or geared. Direct power take-offs are driven directly by the vehicle's powertrain, and geared power take-off s are driven via a transmission to step up the rotation speed. Double power take-offs have a built-in transmission which distributes power to two outlets for connection of offtake modules.
Known power take-off s do however lack flexibility in their configurations. Where a single power take-off is to be replaced by a double power take-off, the whole unit has to be removed from the vehicle and changed. Where a direct power take-off is to be replaced by a geared power take-off, the whole unit likewise has to be changed. This leads to a large number and complex types of PTOs with many different types of configurations, and consequently greater costs. Changing the type of PTO, which may be necessary if the vehicle is to be used in a different area of application, e.g. upon change of owner, is also complex.
WO 2011/044376 A2 refers to a power take-off for a vehicle which has a surrounding housing with a transmission which transfers rotation and torque from the vehicle's gearbox to suitable equipment. The housing and transmission are constituted to prevent lubricant from leaking to the surroundings and contaminants from entering the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,062 refers to a power take-off for a vehicle which has an input shaft driven by the vehicle's powertrain. The input shaft distributes torque and rotary motion to two output shafts via a chain transmission.